Deafblindness

I am the Director of Rehabilitation Services at ARCIL, Portugal. At this same organization, I also work as a Speech and Language Therapist, mostly with children with developmental disorders and/or disability at the Early Intervention level. As a Speech and Language Therapist, I mostly work with individuals with complex communication support needs, in many cases due to disability.

Having experience with children and young people with multiple disability, autism spectrum disorder and severe intellectual disability amongst others, I started searching for training that would enhance my skills in this field. I intended to specialize in communication and in providing the appropriate support for individuals with more complex communication support needs.

When I studied at the RUG I continued to work as a Speech and Language therapist and the expertise gained in the Master Deafblindness turned out to be very helpful. As a director, the knowledge, attitudes and skills related to Education and Social Sciences are also useful, enhancing my ability to analyse and reflect my options.

The research component of the Master was very interesting and useful, especially because it motivates us to use Qualitative Methods and study a specific subject in depth. This way, I became more critical and demanding with quality in research and capable of developing good research projects, academically and in my work place. I am also more aware of diverse methodologies for research and how to use them in my daily work.